How-To Geek

In my house, we rely exclusively on batteries for electricity when our power goes out. Portable solar panels are a vital part of our home survival kit—even in the dead of winter.

The beauty of desktop PCs is that they're endlessly upgradeable. You can buy a PC today and still use some iteration of it in a decade, with a dozen upgrades along the way. But if there's one part that's really annoying to replace, it's the motherboard—and yet, it's also the component most people try to save money on.

In the '90s, lots of appliances had screens. Because they had screens, appliance makers generally thought they might as well add a clock. So devices like VCRs and microwaves would also display the time—if you bothered to set the clock!

You've probably heard about the recent AI controversies surrounding Windows, and you may have even heard of Linux as an alternative. Linux is a fantastic choice, but it's not for everyone—in fact, it's not for most. If you're an avid Windows user or a Linux enthusiast, I have three crucial reasons most users remain on Windows, even though Linux is entirely free.

Buying a 3D printer is exciting, but it can also be expensive. Not only do you have to shell out for a printer and take some time to learn how to use it, you also have to make peace with the fact that this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Boston is not typically thought of as a hotbed for Hollywood entertainment. Los Angeles and New York City are still the top cities to find talent in movies and television. However, you'd be surprised at how many actors and actresses got their start in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, more specifically, Boston.

If you're just starting out with Linux, it can't be a lot to take in. One of the most important concepts to understand though is that you can prepare for issues by making sure snapshots are configured and running regularly. Here's what you need to know.

Have you ever wanted to essentially waste your money? And quite a lot of it, too? Then I have the perfect deal for you.

Your home router can provide basic network monitoring features, but if you need something more advanced, or if you want to integrate output from a network monitor into other services you're self-hosting, you'll need something more. These are a few network monitoring solutions worth trying.

What if shutting down your Linux PC, launching apps, or locking your screen were as easy as tapping your phone? I did exactly that using a free, open-source app that turns any terminal command into a one-tap Android shortcut.

Ubuntu is probably the Linux distro I keep coming back to most frequently. It's also many people's first distro. It's really good, and really customizable. But I'm not fully okay with some of its defaults.

Buying a new TV is an exciting time. You can’t wait to take it out of the box, get all the accessories out, mount it, and throw away the box. Except that last step is something you should seriously reconsider—the box is far more valuable than you might realize.

We've all built a rainbow spreadsheet in Excel, but in reality, your data shouldn't look like a bag of Skittles. While color-coding feels productive, it's hard to audit, impossible to automate, and invisible to formulas. Here's why you need to stop painting and start automating.

I didn't have my heart set on a book-style foldable phone right away. Like many, I wrote them off as too expensive. But after taking a chance on one this year, it has turned out to be quite the cost-saving investment.

Back before we could check the weather forecast with our phones or computers, we used to be able to check it by turning on the TV. The Weather Channel's automated local weather info would tell you what you needed to know while playing a smooth jazz musical number. I was able to bring that back in my homelab.

IKEA has gone all-in on Matter, ushering in a new era of affordable smart home devices that use low-power Thread mesh networking. This is great news for anyone who has been holding out for Matter devices, and it’s hard to deny the value proposition when these devices cost less than the Zigbee accessories they’re replacing.

You're playing a video game and notice it has microstutters, or occasional hitches, or your computer isn't quite so snappy as it was before when you open the Start Menu, or click an app icon to open it.

Your Kindle can do way more than just read e-books. Modern Kindles come with a web browser, which can load basic websites and web apps. Today I'll show you how I play chess on my Kindle, and why it rocks.

Hybrid SUVs increasingly promise efficiency and refinement, but few manage to blend long-term dependability with premium comfort as effectively as one new contender in 2025. It delivers the proven reliability many buyers associate with Toyota, while offering interior quality and refinement that rival entry-level luxury models, creating a rare combination of trustworthiness and upscale feel in a single package.

When it comes to Linux, have you only ever used Ubuntu? Have you noticed that your “Linux skills” break the moment you try another distro? Here are four reasons why Ubuntu-only users are missing the real Linux experience.